Accessing U.S. Government Information

This much revised and expanded edition guides researchers to sources that provide information about the general and specific subjects which form the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government. A tool that correlates legal authorities, principal offices, and financial resources and clarifies their patterns of interaction, the book points out the most appropriate methods and authors for accessing all fields of federal data. Students, teachers, public administrators, policy analysts and citizen activists will find that this easy-to-use guide reliably maps out the jurisdictions of government business and policymaking.

This much revised and expanded edition guides researchers to sources that provide information about the general and specific subjects which form the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government. A tool that correlates legal authorities, principal offices, and financial resources and clarifies their patterns of interaction, the book points out the most appropriate methods and authors for accessing all fields of federal data.

This research aid translates the universe of public responsibilities into topical categories that chart the structure and functions of the policymaking branches and their various subunits. By helping students, teachers, public administrators, policy analysts, and citizen activists to understand the role of jurisdiction in the business of government, it enables them to develop their own best research strategies.

JERROLD ZWIRN is a reference librarian in a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library. He is the author of Congressional Publications, (1983), Congressional Publications and Proceedings (1988), and the earlier edition of this guide published by Greenwood Press in 1989. He has contributed several articles to Government Publications Review. An abiding interest in government decisionmaking and library service has led him to study the relationship between federal business and information output.